Knicks' Fatal Flaw Would Be Not Learning From Losing Game 2

The New York Knicks threw away what should’ve been a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks. They scored a season-low 15 fourth-quarter points and punted away a 12-point lead entering the final frame of Game 2, which tied for the biggest playoff lead squandered in franchise history after three quarters with the Reggie Miller choke sign game in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks were 40-1 in playoff history when leading by 12-plus after 36 minutes, per NBA.com.

The gag job flooded back memories about that night and last year's Game 1 against Indiana—the Tyrese Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith game. But fans can instead look back to the Knicks first-round series with Detroit last spring for comparison's sake. Let's say this is par for the course with this group.

The Knicks had a very similar script last spring for their opening two playoff games. In Game 1 against Detroit, New York won by 11. They beat the Hawks 113-102 in Game 1. The Pistons evened things up at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 before the Knicks won three of the next four, including all three on the road.

The Knicks tend not to make things easy

This is a battle-tested group. Also a group that seemingly needs the occasional kick in the pants.

"You always want to get better with a win, but sometimes you need a loss to dive in on things you're not doing well,” Mikal Bridges told the media on Tuesday, via SNY Knicks Video.

There’s no sugarcoating the loss as there's a lot of blame to go around. Head coach Mike Brown was bad and outclassed by Hawks bench boss Quin Snyder. Jalen Brunson’s process was too self-serving and his cape wasn’t needed. The captain also got cooked by CJ McCollum. Karl-Anthony Towns was invisible in the fourth quarter. The bench was a zero.

For starters, the Knicks can't afford to keep playing the lineups that have emerged as their worst. Brown randomly decided to stop staggering his stars for the second game in a row. It didn’t burn him in Game 1. But you can argue that the game was lost during the two shifts—11-plus minutes' worth of game time—that Brunson and Towns both sat.

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) high-fives guard Jalen Brunson. — Feb 1, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) high-fives guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Knicks were outscored by seven points when their two stars were not in the game and scored a paltry 0.77 points per possession in the half-court. That number was 1.23 points per possession when one or both were on the floor. There were only 35 minutes during the entire playoff run last season with both on the bench

You can argue that both did have four fouls apiece heading into the fourth. You can also argue about the Knicks being up 96-87 when they both returned with 7:56 left. But there's no defending some of the rotations that Brown deployed.

It’s inexcusable to have lineups with neither Brunson nor Towns while only having one of the starting wings. You cannot run zero creator lineups in the postseason. Brown is not using the key bench pieces in lineups that amplify them or the stars. He's also been reluctant to use the double big lineup against a much smaller Atlanta team.

New York didn’t lose Game 2 when the bench was on the floor, but backups didn't help

Brown used a lineup of Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride that had played just six total minutes together during the regular season. Meanwhile, the five-man unit of Jose Alvarado, OG Anunoby, Bridges, Clarkson and Robinson shared the court for three minutes during the fourth. They had played zero minutes together prior.

The trio of McBride, Shamet and Clarkson played just 23 minutes all year without either Brunson or Towns. McBride and Shamet played 46 minutes without at least one of the two. Without an offensive hub, the snipers can't snipe. In Game 2, they had four times as many turnovers (4) as points, rebounds, assists and steals combined (1).

Brunson has uncharacteristically struggled since his 19-point first quarter in Game 1. He’s 11-for-37 from the field in the seven quarters since, and he's being hunted on defense. The Hawks got 1.77 points per direct drive tonight while he guarded the ball handler—the sixth-worst mark for a defender who guarded at least 14 drives in a game all season.

Possessions for the Knicks when no one else but Brunson touches the ball are bad possessions. There were too many of those down the stretch. Towns and Hart were scoreless in the fourth. The game didn't need to come down to Anunoby's free throws or a last-second Bridges brick.

The road ahead got harder for the Knicks, but they've been here before.

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